Police have arrested 466 people in London for supporting Palestine Action at the most recent protest backing the group since the UK government banned it under anti-terrorism laws.
The Met Police said the protesters were arrested for supporting a proscribed organisation, and the number of arrests was the largest it had made on a single day in the past decade.
There were also eight arrests for other offences, including five for assaults on officers, although no one was seriously injured, police said.
Politicians in the UK banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes as part of a series of protests.
The group accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Police officers detained an 89-year-old protester during the rally. (Reuters: Jaimi Joy)
Its co-founder, Huda Ammori, won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban last week.
Critics, including the United Nations and groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have condemned the move as a legal overreach and a threat to free speech.
How long can protesters be sentenced?
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of Palestine Action, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
It comes under the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000, and it states a person commits an offence if the person “expresses an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation”.
It goes on to state:
“A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable if:
- (a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding [14] years, to a fine or to both, or
- (b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both.”
In a post on X, the Met Police said, “anyone who came to Parliament Square today to hold a placard expressing support for Palestinian Action was either arrested or in the process of being arrested”.
Psychotherapist Craig Bell, 39, was among those holding a placard at the latest event. He said the ban was “absolutely ridiculous”.
“When you compare Palestine Action with an actual terrorist group who are killing civilians and taking lives, it’s just a joke that they’re being prescribed a terrorist group,” he told AFP.
Protesters, some wearing black and white scarves and waving Palestinian flags, chanted “hands off Gaza” and held placards with the message “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action” at the event.
The crowd chanted “shame on you” at the police.
A group called Defend Our Juries, which organised Saturday’s protests and previous demonstrations against the ban, said “unprecedented numbers” had risked “arrest and possible imprisonment” to “defend this country’s ancient liberties”.
“We will keep going. Our numbers are already growing for the next wave of action in September,” it added.
Protesters who held signs like this were arrested. (Reuters: Jaimi Joy)
Who has condemned the ban on Palestinian Action?
Police forces across the UK have made scores of similar arrests since the government outlawed Palestine Action on July 5.
UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk said the ban was “disproportionate and unnecessary”.
“It appears to constitute an impermissible restriction on those rights that is at odds with the UK’s obligations under international human rights law,” he said.
Police announced this week that the first three people had been charged in the English and Welsh criminal justice system with supporting Palestine Action following their arrests at a July 5 demonstration.
Seven people have so far been charged in Scotland, which has a separate legal system.
The United Nations and Amnesty International have condemned the ban and the arrests. (Reuters: Jaimi Joy)
Amnesty International UK chief executive Sacha Deshmukh wrote to Met Police chief Mark Rowley this week, urging restraint to be exercised when policing people expressing support for Palestine Action.
“The protesters in Parliament Square were not inciting violence, and it is entirely disproportionate to the point of absurdity to be treating them as terrorists,” he said.
“We have long criticised UK terrorism law for being excessively broad and vaguely worded and a threat to freedom of expression.
“The arrest of otherwise peaceful protesters is a violation of the UK’s international obligations to protect the rights of freedom of expression and assembly.”
A UK court challenge against the decision to proscribe Palestine Action will be heard in November.
Wires